Three Dead and Four Injured After Shooting at Seattle Food Festival
A shooting at the Seattle Center on Sunday evening left three people dead and four others wounded, including a two-year-old toddler. The gunfire erupted just after 6 p.m. during the Bite of Seattle food festival, a major community event held at the downtown arts and entertainment venue originally constructed for the 1962 World’s Fair, in the shadow of the Space Needle.
Police Custody and Ongoing Suspect Search
Assistant Chief Tyrone Davis of the Seattle Police Department announced that officers took one suspect into custody and are searching for another individual described as a “young person.” Investigators believe the two suspects were shooting at each other. While two firearms have been recovered and officials stated there is no outstanding threat to the community, the possibility of other suspects has not been ruled out, and it remains unclear if there was any relationship between the victims and the suspects.
Emergency Response and Medical Treatment
The Seattle Fire Department initially treated seven victims at the scene, declaring two dead immediately. Five others, with injuries ranging from minor to serious, received treatment, with four gunshot patients transported to Harborview Medical Center. Among those hospitalized was the stable two-year-old and other patients aged between 23 and 56. One female patient later succumbed to her injuries at the medical center, bringing the total death toll to three. Mayor Katie Wilson condemned the shooting in a statement, calling the incident “an act of horrific violence.”
Eyewitness Accounts of the Chaos
The shooting disrupted an annual three-day festival that typically draws over 350,000 visitors. Witnesses described scenes of sudden panic; Rachel Costa, a 49-year-old visitor from Brazil, recalled barricading herself inside a pavilion with about 20 other people when the shots rang out. Another attendee, 52-year-old Justice Beitzel, described the music stopping abruptly as crowds ran for cover, prompting her and a friend to hide behind a picket fence and console other bystanders.
